Battle of Kalisch (1706)

Battle of Kalisch (1706)

Part of: Great Northern War

August II before Polish hussars during the Battle of Kalisch

date	October 29, 1706
place	Kalisz , Poland
output	Saxon-Russian victory

Parties to the conflict
Sweden Poland-Lithuania under Stanislaus I. Leszczyński	Electorate of Saxony Tsarism Russia Polish allies of August II.
Commander
Arvid Axel Mardefelt Józef Potocki	August II. Prince Menschikow Johann Christoph von Naumann Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski Stanisław Mateusz Rzewuski
Troop strength
Sweden: 4,500 men Polish troops: 10,000 men	35,000 men of which: Russian troops: 8,756 Russian dragoons 500 - 6,000 Kalmyks 2000 - 4,000 Cossacks Saxon troops: 6,000 men Polish troops: 10,000 men
losses
700 dead 1800–2600 prisoners (Sweden only)	3,000 dead and wounded among them: Russians: 84 dead 324 wounded

The Battle of Kalisch was a battle on October 29, 1706 during the Great Northern War between Swedish and Polish troops on the one hand and Russian and Saxon troops on the other. With the help of Russian troops under the leadership of Prince Menshikov , August II won this battle and achieved his greatest success in the war against Sweden. August II did not want to affect the peace conditions negotiated beforehand in Altranstädt , released all prisoners and hurried to his hereditary lands in order to conclude peace with Sweden. The victory therefore had no consequences.

prehistory

Battle of Kalisch

Location of the battlefield

After August 27, 1706, the Swedish army advanced under Charles XII. in Saxony and occupied the country. Charles XII. left only 6,000 Swedes in Poland and the Polish Crown Army with 15,000 men to cover the country. Since the Saxon Elector and Polish King Augustus the Strong had no significant troops in Poland since the battle of Fraustadt , Charles XII offered. gave him peace negotiations. August sent two of his ministers to Saxony with full powers to negotiate peace with the King of Sweden. This ended on September 24, 1706 with the Peace of Altranstadt . Meanwhile, a Russian corps under the leadership of Menshikov moved to Peterkau , where August II was staying with his remaining army.

August II received the news of the impending peace treaty on October 15th. August II tried several times unsuccessfully to prevent the battle so as not to endanger the peace. So he sent a letter to the Swedish Lieutenant General Mardefelt, in which he asked him to withdraw his troops to prevent a fight. Lieutenant General Mardefelt thought this was a ruse and did not comply with the request. August II could no longer withstand the Polish and Russian pressure and, since the Russians had hidden the peace negotiations, had to accept the battle.

Course of the battle

Russian cavalry had cut off the lines of retreat for the Swedes, so that they had to line up on October 29 in a free field northwest near Kalisch . There the 5,000 Swedish and 10,000 Polish soldiers under General Mardefelt met the troops of Augustus the Strong (Quartermaster General: von Naumann ). These consisted of 6,000 Saxons, 10,000 Poles and 20,000 Russians (half consisted of irregular Cossack associations ). The Allied Army was not under a single command. The supreme commander of the Saxons is Lieutenant General Michael Brandt , with the Russians Prince Alexander Menshikov. The Polish units are led by a dozen commanders. Early on the morning of October 29th the armies began to line up. The battle begins at half past three in the afternoon. Stanislaus I. Leszczyński's Polish cavalry was immediately dispersed, while the Swedish infantry stubbornly resisted. Lieutenant General Mardefelt offers to surrender on the condition that the officers are allowed to keep their horses and property. 500 Swedes riders retreat to Posen , 600 Swedes entrench themselves in Kalisch. On the evening of the next day these Swedes also surrender. The victory of the allies is complete. The Swedes lost around half of their own armed forces. Mardefeldt, four generals and a hundred officers, 2,000 soldiers on the Swedish-Polish side were taken prisoner. The Swedes and Poles are said to have suffered 700 deaths, while the total Russian losses are reported at around 400.

Results

In retrospect, August II claimed victory over the Swedes for himself. Despite the victory, August II refused to cancel the peace treaty and to continue fighting alongside Russia. A Swedish officer brought the news of the defeat to Altranstädt. Charles XII. refrained from further action after August II assured him that he had no other choice in the face of Polish-Russian pressure. August II undertakes to release all prisoners, although the Saxons only captured seven Swedes during the battle. In addition, compensation should be paid to Charles XII. to be paid. On November 12th, the Altranstadt peace, which had remained a secret until then, was made public. On December 17th (greg.) August II reached Altranstädt and on December 19th Saxony ratified the peace treaty . The battle had little effect on the further course of the war, as Saxony left the coalition despite the victory.

literature

• Johannes Kalisch - Josef Gierowski (ed.): To the Polish crown. Saxony and Poland. during the Northern War 1700–1721 . Berlin 1962

Web links

Commons : Battle of Kalisch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Friedrich Hartknoch: Contributions to the history of Peter the Great, first volume, 1774, p. 183f
2. ^ Gordon A. The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia: To which is Prefixed a Short General History of the Country from the Rise of that Monarchy: and an Account of the Author's Life, Volume 1. Aberdeen. 1755. p. 228
3. ^ Johann Friedrich Hartknoch: Contributions to the history of Peter the Great, first volume, 1774, p. 183f
4. ↑ Tony Sharp: Pleasure and ambition: the life, loves and wars of Augustus the Strong, 2001, p. 232